Looking for ways to incorporate STEM into your elementary classroom? See how one school did it using free resources provided by NASA.

1. Presented by Jennifer Williams and Julie Kenter
Isidore Newman School
LACUE Conference 2012

2. Who Are We???
Jennifer Williams
Lower School Science Coordinator at
Isidore Newman School in New Orleans, LA
JenniferWilliams@newmanschool.org
Julie Kenter
Second Grade Lead Teacher at
Isidore Newman School in New Orleans, LA
JulieKenter@newmanschool.org

3. The Philosophy of LS Science Program at Newman
Discimus Agree Agendo
“Learning to do by doing”
Our department believes in hands-on, constructivist
teaching. Our teachers believe and teach science as
a verb, not a noun. The more the students DO
science, the better they will understand their world
and the nature of science.

4. NASA Explorer Schools (NES) Program and
Newman School
In 2010 school year, Newman School became involved in NASA
Explorer Schools Program.
NES gives educators access to NASA’s people, missions,
research and facilities. NASA has assembled a comprehensive
set of free classroom materials to help you teach dozens of
STEM concepts.
Since 2010, we have been part of pilot program testing NASA
educational materials with early elementary grades.

5. NASA Explorer Schools Website
The Starting Point For Teachers
NASA ‐ NASA Explorer Schools

6. NASA’s 50th Anniversary
A Multimedia Perspective of NASA’s Past, Present and Future
NASA's 50th Anniversary website

7. NASA’s Rocketry Site
Learn About the Basics of Rocket Design, the Space Shuttle, and the Future of Heavy Lift Rockets
NASA's Rocketry

8. 3…2…1…PUFF!
Building and Testing a Simple Soda Straw Rockets

9. Rocket Engineering at NASA
Remember you can not have success without having
failures.
This video shows some of our successes and failures in
rocket construction: NASA's Famous First.mp4

10. Your Mission’s Objective
Construct a simple paper rocket.
Test your rocket to see how far it will travel.
Collect data on your rocket and far it travels.
Redesign to improve your rocket’s performance.
Graph your results.
Carter F. rocket launch

11. Collecting Data on Your Rocket

12. NASA’s Do-It-Yourself Podcast
NASA's Do-It-Yourself Podcast activity sets the stage for students to host
a show that features astronauts doing experiments on the International
Space Station or NASA experts explaining scientific concepts.
NASA provides a set of audio and video clips along with links to images
and information about a STEM-related topic.

13. NASA’s Do-It-Yourself Podcast
Newman Made Podcast
•NASA’s DIY Podcasts provides modules
that help you to create your own podcast
on various topics.
• Our students selected to create a
podcasts about a topic not addressed in
the DIY Podcast section.
•Students selected images from NASA
Images site for their movie.
•NASA Images and Great Images in
Mars by the Swamp Class NASA are repositories for photographs,
animations, videos, and animations from
NASA’s past and future.

14. Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s Mars Science
Laboratory
In the “Participate” section, teachers can find professional development,
curriculum and projects about the Red Planet.
The site updated daily with new images from Curiosity and news releases
from JPL and NASA.
Mars Exploration Program

15. NASA and LEGO’s Bricks in Space Program
Join the astronauts onboard the International Space Station as they
perform scientific experiments with various LEGO products.
Videos, available on the site, transmit their results back to Earth.
Accompanying worksheets are able so the activities can be
performed in classrooms and compared with the results from the
astronauts.
LEGOspace.com Home

16. NASA and LEGO’s Bricks in Space Program
..VideosEmma C, Whitney G, and
Grace's robot.MPG

17. NASA’s Spaced Out Sports Challenge
Spaced Out Sports” is a national student design challenge geared toward grades 5-8.
The purpose is for students to apply Newton's Laws of Motion by designing or redesigning
a game for International Space Station (ISS) astronauts to play in space.
As students design a new sport, they will learn about Newton's Laws of Motion and the
effect of gravity on an object.
Students will learn to predict the difference between a game or activity played on Earth
and in the microgravity environment of the ISS.
Can be used with NASA’s DIY Podcasts on Microgravity and Space Sports and/or Spaced
Out Sports curriculum.

18. Places to Learn and Play at NASA
NASA KIDS' CLUB
THE SPACE PLACE
WELCOME TO MARS STAR CHILD

19. Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s Planet Quest
Simulations, blogs, videos, podcasts, and opportunities
to interact with the scientists and engineers at JPL.
Planet Quest

20. NASA Apps for iPad, iPod and iPhone

21. In closing…
NASA has many STEM resources available for educators
that are entirely free to you.
Start with one this school year and incorporate more as
you explorer the NASA sites mentioned in this presentation.
Happy exploring!

22. Websites used in this presentation…
NASA Explorer Schools (NES) Program
NES gives educators access to NASA’s people, missions, research and facilities. NASA has assembled a comprehensive set of free classroom materials to help you
teach dozens of STEM concepts. www.explorerschools.nasa.gov/
NASA’s 50 Years
This interactive, multimedia site gives students a perspective of NASA’s past, present and future. This site gives students insight to history of the space agency and
space travel, news of the day, music of the time, and national trends. Great links found at this site to learn more about the people, missions, and events.
http://www.nasa.gov/externalflash/50th/index.html
NASA’s Rocketry Site
Includes educational lesson plans and activities to help students understand how rockets are constructed and function. Learn about past rockets used in space
exploration and get updates on the future of the heavy lift rockets that will take humans back to the moon and on to
Mars. http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/rocketry/home/index.html
NASA’s Do-It-Yourself Podcast
NASA provides sets of audio and video clips along with links to images and information about a STEM-related topic, so students can create their video and audio
podcasts. www.nasa.gov/education/diypodcast

23. Websites used in this presentation… continued
NASA and LEGO’s Bricks in Space Program
LEGO® Education has partnered with NASA to create an educational program designed to inspire the exploration of science,
technology, engineering, andmath! Join the astronauts onboard the International Space Station as they perform scientific
experiments with various LEGO products. Lesson plans, building instructions, and student worksheets are available at the site.
http://legospace.com
NASA’s Spaced Out Sports Challenge
National student designed challenge for students in grades 5th – 8th. Teachers will find a curriculum guide available that teaches
students about Newton’s Laws of Motion. http://education.ssc.nasa.gov/spacedoutsports.asp
Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s Planet Quest
Simulations, blogs, videos, podcasts, and opportunities to interact with the scientists and engineers at JPL.
http://planetquest.jpl.nasa.gov/
NASA Images
Repository for NASA images, animations and videos. http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/

24. Websites used in this presentation… continued
Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s Mars Science Laboratory
Learn the latest information about the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) including Curiosity. Students can learn about all aspects of the
rover through videos, blogs, and fact sheets. Teachers can find lesson plans, simulations, and design challenges to teach about the
rovers and Mars. http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/
Great Images in NASA (GRIN)
GRIN is a collection of over a thousand images of significant historical interest scanned at high-resolution in several sizes.
http://grin.hq.nasa.gov/
NASA Kids’ Club
http://www.nasa.gov/audience/forkids/kidsclub/flash/index.html
The Space Place
http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/
Starchild
http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/StarChild.html

25. No matter where you are in the universe
thank you for attending today…
If you have questions or need assistance,
please contact us at
Jennifer Williams
Jenniferwilliams@newmanschool.org
http://storystartstoscience.googlepages.com
Julie Kenter
Juliekenter@newmanschool.org